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Is High Ability Necessary for Greatness?
Scientific American: As soon as I saw the headline "Research sheds light on origins of greatness", my interest was piqued. The article is referring to a new paper in Current Directions in Psychological Science, so I immediately downloaded that paper and left the press release open to the side. I’m wary of press releases with these sorts of headlines so best to go right to the source. Scanning the paper, which is coauthored by David Z. Hambrick and Elizabeth J. Meinz, I realize it’s a summary of research they’ve already conducted (some published, some not). As I read about their studies I noticed that not one of them actually looked at greatness.
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Lucky Towns
Men's Health Magazine: Luck is like that dark matter stuff scientists have spent billions of dollars trying to find with the Large Hadron Collider—a powerful presence that people surmise exists but no one has actually seen. The difference is that we found luck. Using statistics instead of protons, we pinpointed the location of a large supply in, of all places, San Diego. Wondering how Vegas didn't hit this jackpot?
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‘My Extreme Animal Phobia’ explores fears of creatures big and small
Los Angeles Times: Medical reality television has a new kid on the block: "My Extreme Animal Phobia," in which people face their terror of four-footed and creepy-crawly creatures. Why extreme? Because when it comes to mental and physical health disorders on TV, the bigger the better. The show, which debuts Oct. 21, features three people temporarily living in a clinic trying to overcome (with the help of a therapist) their acute fears about various animals. The premiere episode features people who are deathly afraid of spiders, pit bulls and snakes.
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Auch Mimik braucht Kontext
ORF Austria: Mit einem anderen Aspekt der zwischenmenschlichen Interaktion hat sich Lisa Feldman Barrett in einer aktuellen Metastudie beschäftigt, nämlich mit der Interpretation menschlicher Gesichtsausdrücke. Hunderte Studien zum Thema hat die Forscherin gesichtet und kommt zum Schluss: Ohne Kontext können wir nicht erkennen, ob sich jemand gerade vor Lachen krümmt oder das Gesicht im Schmerz verzerrt. Ein Ausschnitt reicht meist nicht aus. Als Beispiel nennt Barrett das Gesicht der Tennisspielerin Serena Williams nach ihrem Sieg über ihre Schwester Venus im Jahr 2008. Sieht man ihr Antlitz nur in Nahaufnahme, könnte man denken, sie leide an Schmerzen oder sei zornig.
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Kind Words Can Lead to Harsh Consequences
LiveScience: Politeness has a place, but not in high-stakes situations, according to researchers. Whether a pilot is making an emergency flight or a doctor is trying to help a patient make a surgical decision, the sort of vague, evasive responses that help us avoid hurting someone's feelings can have disastrous consequences, according to a team of scientists, including Jean-François Bonnefon and Wim de Neys of the National Center for Scientific Research and the University of Toulouse in France, and Aidan Feeney of Queen's University in the United Kingdom. The more sensitive an issue, the more polite we tend to become, according to the researchers. Read the full story: LiveScience
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Allô Maman, j’ovule !
Slate France: Savez-vous ce qu’est l’œstrus ? Il s’agit de ce qu’on appelle communément les “chaleurs” chez les femelles des mammifères, une période d’attractivité sexuelle indiquant qu’elles sont prêtes à être fécondées. On a longtemps cru que, dans l’espèce humaine, l’évolution avait fait disparaître complètement l’œstrus mais, depuis quelques années, les chercheurs estiment, à certains signes discrets, que cette petite part de “bestialité” est encore présente, enfouie au plus profond de nous. En clair que les femmes envoient toujours, au moins inconsciemment, des signaux avant leur ovulation et que les hommes sont capables, tout aussi peu consciemment, de les percevoir.
